What are your thoughts on the time control being used at the 2019 Sinquefield Cup, G/130;d30?
This is hardly a novelty. I remember the 2007 US Championship was G/150;d30. Also the Denker was played at G/180;d5 for a year or two.
The novelty might be the 130 minutes. It has been a common practice to often have time controls that are in 30 minute [i.e. g/30, g/60, g/90, g/120, g/150, etc.] intervals. That is not to say that other controls have never been used. The use of 40/100 was to give a player 2.5 minutes per move on average.
Larry S. Cohen
Does the choice of time control have anything to do with FIDE rules regarding the minimum time per game and maximum playing time per day?
Maybe they really wanted G/120 inc/30 d/10, but couldn’t find any clocks that supported having both increment and delay on at the same time. 
Bill Smythe
130 makes sense if you normalize on 40 moves rather than 60—it gives you 150 minutes (at the outside) for 40 moves, which used to be the standard for professional level tournaments. Of course, back in the 40/150 days, you followed with 16/60 repeating (usually with adjournment at seven hours), and here you better be able to play your endgames quickly.
I wouldn’t want to play it. I wouldn’t want to direct it. But then I’m not a world-class chess player.
Tom,
You only get 150 minutes if you use the full delay on every turn. If it is i/30, then you would get 150 minutes for 40 moves.
Mike
That’s why I included “(at the outside)”.
Sorry, I missed the meaning of that.
When comparing the time per game to the maximum playing time per day based upon the time control, is +30 treated differently than d30 by FIDE? (There was a point where FIDE just plain didn’t recognize delay time controls, have they changed their position on that?)
No, delay is equivalent to increment from the FIDE perspective.
Delay is equivalent to increment in terms of calculating total playing time from the FIDE perspective but there seems to be at least one difference between delay and increment from the FIDE perspective due to the following rule:
sudburyriverchess.com/uscf-f … olumn.html
“A player with less than two minutes remaining on the clock may claim a draw under Article G.5 (the vague equivalent of US Chess rule 14H, “insufficient losing chances”), even if there is a delay clock already in use for the game. Article G.5 does not apply if the time control uses any increment.) The player may claim a draw based on the opponent not making any attempt to win the game by normal means. Article G.2 requires that it be announced before the start of an event whether appendix G applies to the event.”
That is not accurate, I’m assuming it is just now outdated. Please see fide.com/fide/handbook.html … ew=article and check out Section “Guidelines III. Games without increment including Quickplay Finishes”, rule III.2.2 states “These Guidelines shall apply only to standard chess and rapid chess games without increment and not to blitz games.”
In FIDE delay is equivalent to increment so these specific Laws are not applicable for games with a delay.
I’ll have to double check when I get home tonight, but I think the Chronos Blitz is capable of having both increment and delay (and final delay!) on at the same time.
- Enrique
Even my very old Chronos (ca 1996) is capable of simultaneous increment and delay. Well, sort of. And only if there is just one main control (sudden death).
Just set it for the mode with 2 controls, with the 2nd control repeating indefinitely. If your Chronos has this mode, just set the 1st control for 1/120 d/10, and the 2nd for 1/0:30 d/10 indefinitely. That’s 1 move in 120 minutes, followed by 1 move in 30 seconds indefinitely, with a 10-second delay throughout. Presto! In effect you have your G/120 inc/30 d/10.
There are some problems with this, however. For example, if a player’s time expires, I think the clock will keep running, and will even give the expired player a new 30 seconds on the next move.
Bill Smythe
The Chess Evolution Premium clock is capable of having both increment and delay on at the same time.